Numerical simulations of turbulent flow in an electromagnetically levitated metallic droplet using k-Ω SST and Reynolds stress models

Abstract

Electromagnetic levitation of a metallic droplet in the microgravity conditions is mod- elled accounting for the droplet shape variation, its displacement and turbulent character of the flow in the system. Three different models are applied for description of turbulent flow in the droplet: k − ω SST model and two models based on Reynolds stresses (RSM), all of them resulted in a qualitatively similar flow inside a droplet. Use of RSM-based models leads to a sharper interface of a droplet in volume-of-fluid calculations compared to the k − ω SST model. Two RSM models predict value of the surface tension close to a theoretical one, yet, both fail in predicting of viscosity of the droplet’s material.